The effect of the pungent sensation elicited by Sichuan pepper oleoresin on the sensory perception of saltiness throughout younger and older age groups

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Excessive salt in the diet can pose significant health risks and, therefore, the reduction of salt derived from food is an important issue relating to human nutrition and health. Furthermore, the perception of saltiness will be different among people when considering their innate sensitivity, gender, age, psychological traits and dietary habits. In this study, 31 younger participants and 29 older participants were used as research subjects. A web-based questionnaire survey was used to collect information regarding of socio-demographics, consumption frequency and liking for salty and pungent food, as well as personality traits throughout the younger and the older participants. In addition, the 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) ratings were tested by the generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS) in the laboratory conditions. The rated difference from control method was used to test the sensitivity differences in the saltiness of NaCl and the pungent sensation elicited by Sichuan pepper oleoresin between the younger and older groups. The results showed that the thresholds were significantly lower in the younger group than in the older group, except for the detection threshold of saltiness. Furthermore, the recognition threshold of saltiness decreased in the presence of the sub-threshold pungency solution, while, the salty intensity was enhanced in both the younger and older groups when exposed to the slightly pungent solution (0.106 g Sichuan pepper oleoresin/L water solutions) compared to the control (spring water). For the younger group, the enhancement percentage of the salty intensity was between 9.3% and 12.5%, while, at the concentration of 4.05 g/L, the salty-enhancement percentage increased by 6.4% in the older group. In addition, the reduction percentage of NaCl reached a level of up to 34.4% in the younger group and was 4.4% in the older group. The Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) results indicated that the percentage change in salty intensity increased when the detection threshold of saltiness, the sensation seeking ratings, and PROP ratings increased. On the contrary, the change decreased when the age, life satisfaction ratings, detection threshold of pungency, and consumption frequency of salty food increased. These findings not only provide new information for the flavor design of salt-reduced food and dishes, but also be valuable to public health as well as economic benefits.